Nearly a decade ago, I received a call from my friend and photographer Gina Sabatella who was preparing for a shoot at an hotel with Regina Rubino and thought we would harmonize.
It was a highly stylized, and decidedly luxe shoot, but in bucolic Bel Air’s most natural setting.
Wherever I’m working, it begins by creating a sacred space. This keeps me grounded and centered. I mist the air with an herbal clearing spray, opening the respiratory paths to good chi and energy,
I’m an airbrush artist, and I’ve had many of my tools (airbrush and brushes) for two decades. Being rare and precious, they’re treated with great care and respect. I have as much invested in my tools as a photographer might have in their equipment. These are the medium I employ which most directly touch — thus influence — my clients in both look and feel, so they must be special and pure.
I intend for each person who steps into my space, to feel their mood change, creating an even flow. It usually doesn’t take long before a client says something to me like, “You have great energy!” or "You’re different?” without knowing exactly why. It’s my aspiration that long after they make-up is washed away, that the feeling of wellness lingers, and that the memory of our moment together is one that remains with them over the years.
My approach is similar to painting a canvas, or sculpting. I sees a person's inner beauty and endeavor to bring that out, rather than creating illusions.
“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” ~ Michelangelo
~ Julie Evonne Washington
~ Photos by Gina Sabatella
